Speeches Shim
Caribbean Hurricanes
Photo: CIRA /
As the world's humanitarian leader, the United States remains committed to providing life- saving assistance when a disaster strikes. In response to three back-to-back major hurricanes – Irma, Jose, and Maria – that struck the Caribbean region during the catastrophic 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season, USAID deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to provide immediate humanitarian assistance in close coordination with local authorities and humanitarian organizations on the ground.
How You Can Help
The best way to help those affected by a disaster overseas is to make a monetary donation to a reputable humanitarian organization working in the disaster zone.
As a U.S. government agency, USAID does not accept donations for its crisis response effort. If you wish to donate, you can contribute to the Hurricane Irma Relief Fund at GlobalGiving or to one of the organizations listed below:
Latest Updates
U.S. Response to Caribbean Hurricanes Infographic 
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USAID deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to respond to three back-to-back major hurricanes – Irma, Jose, and Maria – that struck the Caribbean region during the catastrophic 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The DART – which at its height comprised 54 people – remained flexible and nimble to respond to changing humanitarian needs, with disaster experts deployed to 11 countries over the course of the month-long response. In addition, USAID airlifted more than 185 metric tons of relief supplies, which helped an estimated 83,800 people.
The below is attributable to Acting Spokesperson Clayton M. McCleskey:
On September 11, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green spoke by phone with the French Minister of the Interior, Gerard Collomb, and the Director-General of the French Development Agency, Remy Rioux, to offer his condolences to the people of Saint-Martin in the wake of Hurricane Irma's devastation.
Between September 9 and 10, Hurricane Jose passed approximately 75 miles northwest of the island of St. Martin—composed of the French territory of Saint-Martin and the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten—with maximum sustained winds of nearly 130 miles per hour, according to international media and the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Tropical storm conditions, including strong gusts and swells, affected parts of the northern Leeward Islands—including St. Barthelemy and St. Martin—and the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, NHC reports. Overall, the storm caused less damage than expected in the Caribbean region, according to initial reports from relief stakeholders.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects that Hurricane Jose will affect the northern Leeward Islands—including the islands of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Barthelemy, St. Martin, and St. Eustatius—through the evening of September 9 before proceeding into the open waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. The storm is bringing sustained winds of approximately 120 miles per hour (mph), storm surge of up to 3 feet, and up to 6 inches of rain to affected areas, according to NHC forecasts.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) anticipates that Hurricane Irma will affect The Bahamas through September 9 as the storm continues tracking northwestward across the northern Caribbean. The storm is bringing sustained winds of nearly 160 miles per hour (mph), storm surge of up to 20 feet, and 10–15 inches of rain to The Bahamas, according to NHC forecasts.
The below is attributable to Acting Spokesperson Clayton M. McCleskey:
USAID Administrator Mark Green called Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda this afternoon to convey the condolences and support of the United States to the people of that island nation following the destruction wrought by Hurricane Irma.
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